Update

Whoa.

It was never my intention to abandon the blog for seven months, so you have my apologies.

We attended our fourth farmer's market today in Wichita and nearly sold out of everything.  I can't tell you what a glorious feeling it is to know that not only do we grow great food, but we are able to share it with others.  We even sold around 8 bushels of sweet corn (non-GMO, herbicide and pesticide free) that was grown by one of James' students.

Life is busy as we valiantly struggle against weeds and squash bugs in our garden.  The zucchini will be done in the next two weeks, if I'm right, as the squash bugs are multiplying quickly despite squishing and stomping.  Meanwhile, our beautiful lemon squash is apparently abhorrent to squash bugs, as it remains untouched one row over.

I'll write more later!

Winter Cleanup

As an aside, it is extremely difficult to snap clear pictures when focusing on a fire (and trying to hold onto a gunny sack, hose, or get out of the way!).

Given our trouble with squash beetles this past summer, we decided burning our main garden plot was an important fall activity.  Enter two men with diametrically opposed work schedules and a windy fall and...  It's December and we still haven't burned.

 So Tuesday evening, later than we ought as I was outside preparing the chicken coops for our imminent nasty weather and wasn't answering the phone, we burned.  Or, rather, James burned and the rest of us spent time making sure  only the garden burned or toting the propane tank for him.

 And burned.  Squash beetles were toast.

 The sun set.  We weren't done.  Onward!

 It's amazing how chilly the atmosphere became as we persisted into the dark.  Long afterwards, my back remained cold from the persistent, chilly breeze.  Unusual for our experiences, we had no excitement.

... Until the frozen pizza inside, that is!

We still need to pull of the tomato fencing (a failed attempt at recycling fence) and till, but the weather is already bad for that, so it will wait.

Summer's Bounty

The sweet potatoes are growing by leaps and bounds.

As are the Eden's Gem melons.

Grasshoppers and friends are destroying the pumpkins, so we are harvesting a few, as well as luscious peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes.

Squash Bug Battle

Sunday, Myle discovered our vine crops had been invaded by squash bugs.  These prolific insects can destroy a plant in less than 24 hours, and an entire crop in days.

The race is on to pick more eggs than hatch to save our zucchini, yellow squash, and pumpkins.  We've already dusted with diatomaceous earth and picked eggs three times.  So far, no plant has been destroyed, although two are near misses.  Here's hoping we caught the squash bugs in time!